Insights

Here are some of the most interesting insights we've collected with the Social Values Project. Check back often as we are continually adding new articles and research on how values intersect with marketing communications and consumer purchase behavior.

Just as the internet and information technology has made matching in other domains (e.g. classified ads or home buying) more efficient, values based matching in the labor market is bound to be a problem tackled by data science teams at online companies in the near future.

Having trouble picking out the perfect gift? Here is your fool-proof guide to giving them something they’ll love! Ever wonder whether that new gadget is really what your special someone wants for Christmas? Will they really love that bread maker? If you’re not sure, Zenzi has some fail-safe tips!

Values tie together behaviors across a wide array of domains and circumstances, such that understanding a person’s value driven behavior requires an equally wide array of values markers. Further, once you understand that behavior, the opportunities for value based decision making are similarly vast. Zenzi’s ValueBase service leverage our proprietary database to uniquely understand the modern consumer.

Zenzi’s Social Values Project seeks to identify key markers of consumer values in order to allow brands to communicate with their customers on a deeper, value-based level. Two of the value-driven motivational types the project has uncovered are Prestige Seekers and Pleasure Seekers. While these two types are similar, there are also key differences that could significantly impact the effectiveness of messaging targeted to these consumers. First let’s look at a description of both:

Zenzi Communications’ Social Values Project is being presented at this year’s FutureM conference October 16 – 18. Data Scientist Ravi Iyer will be sharing the game-changing results of The Social Values Project, which leverages the ubiquity of large connected data graphs from sources like Facebook, Twitter, and Ranker to provide a more complete understanding of the modern consumer. The session, “Using Big Data to Reveal Consumer Values and Inform Storytelling,” will take place on Thursday, October 17 from 2pm to 3pm.

The Social Values Project blends cutting-edge psychology, marketing and data science to get to the heart of what motivates people’s behavior. The resulting insights help businesses connect with customers and employees on a deeper level by understanding and speaking to their inner values, needs and desires.

“Data science is most commonly used to optimize ads using a very narrow view of the consumer,” said Iyer. “Leveraging connected datasets to understand the consumer’s deeper motivations is bound to transform the future of marketing and consumer messaging strategies. With more ways than ever before to communicate, values are the missing link to building meaningful connections with people, thereby influencing product preference and purchase decisions.”

This informative session will illustrate how online data can be used to understand the deeper values and motivations of consumers and act upon them. Additionally, techniques will be shared for mining actionable insight from graphs of data. By understanding their lasting motivations, brands can begin to find customers who will resonate with their strengths and tell value-specific stories that will turn customers into advocates.

Ravi Iyer has been heading up the research and data analysis that has become the foundation of the Social Values Project. Mr. Iyer is a data scientist for Ranker and Zenzi who combines more than 15 years of technology industry experience with a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Southern California. He has authored more than 20 publications in top scholarly journals and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Atlantic, Wall St. Journal, and at South by Southwest Interactive.

FutureM brings a one-of-a-kind experience to Marketing and Media trendsetters by debating the cutting-edge development and future landscape of Marketing. The programs are unique, forward-thinking, and will challenge, integrate and bring to life what tomorrow holds for businesses in the digital age.